The Minerals-Defence Nexus in the UAE’s Strategy

This analysis is a revised and expanded version of the speech presented by the author at the IRIS Conference “La diplomatie climatique des monarchies du Golfe: levier d’influence et outil de puissance” organised by the Defence and Climate Observatory, 13 May 2025.

In recent years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been investing in the mining sector for three main reasons: to diversify its economy beyond oil and gas, to cope with the energy transition towards renewables, and to keep pace with the digital transformation. Not by chance, the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 identifies metals as the third most important driver of the post-hydrocarbon diversification. Emirati investments are focused on Africa (e.g., Guinea; Zambia; Angola; Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Kenya) and, to a lesser extent, Latin America (e.g., Brazil; Peru) and Southern Asia (Pakistan).

However, there’s a fourth reason driving UAE’s interest in the mining sector: the strengthening of its national defence industry, also to comply with the Emirati armed forces’ needs (Ardemagni, 2024). Differently from the other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a minerals-defence nexus can clearly be identified in the Emirati strategy. This is mainly due to the presence of a developing export-oriented national defence industry in the UAE, and to the fact that the Emirati federation is especially investing in dual-use minerals and metals, which can be used both for civilian and military purposes (e.g. copper; iron ore; tantalum; tungsten).

In this framework, the UAE is stepping up mining cooperation with the United States of America (USA), both abroad and at home, paving the way for a strengthened – though not exclusive – UAE-USA partnership on critical minerals, consequently benefitting the Emirati defence goals.